


-.. --- -. .----. - / -... .-.. .. -. -.-

by Tiofrean



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Morse Code, Pre-Negan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiofrean/pseuds/Tiofrean
Summary: Rick gets an idea to try and learn the Morse code. Of course, things don’t go according to plan… (do they ever?)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Following a huge debate on the Morse code and a few other things, let us make one thing clear. 
> 
> "I would like to live in a world where Daryl Dixon residuously learns morse code and knows that Rick has an intimate knowledge of morse code, as well, and that they have practiced this with blinks. I would love that." Scott Gimple
> 
> So yeah. Good to finally have confirmation. But, I have to say, I enjoyed the debate a bit too hard and I guess I wanted to write it all out. So here, have something humorous, positive and a bit fluffy. 
> 
> Huge thanks to Sorran and MermaidSheenaz for ideas, killer-lines and encouragement. Sheenaz also betaed it for you, guys ;) <3

It started out weird. One morning Daryl wandered into the bathroom, hoping Rick would be already done with whatever he was doing because damn, but he needed a piss. He opened the door, happy to see his lover standing in front of the mirror, and directed his steps to the toilet. It didn’t take long, however, before Daryl noticed there was something wrong. He turned his head hesitantly towards Rick, taking in his stiff posture and his stare levelled at the mirror in front of him. For a brief moment, Daryl felt a tiny little pang of panic, his mind getting through the morning once again to try and assess if anything had been out of norm, but he came up with nothing. Frowning, he finished his business and turned to Rick.

The man was studiously staring right into his own eyes reflected in the mirror. He wasn’t moving, save for rapid blinks of his eyelids, and Daryl’s frown deepened. For a brief second he thought Rick was trying to eyefuck _himself_ , which looked as ridiculous as it sounded.   
“Rick?” He asked, not really knowing if he should be worried or not. But Rick hummed back at him and didn’t move. “What the fuck are ya doin’?”

“Morse code.”

Now it was Daryl’s turn to blink. Once, twice. _What?_   
“Sorry… _what?_ ” he watched in disbelief as Rick continued to stand there, blinking at himself, looking ridiculous with his face almost planted in the stupid mirror, clad only in a towel wrapped snugly around his hips.   
“Morse code… may be useful. You should learn, too” Rick stated matter-of-factly and Daryl shook his head.   
“Aha” he huffed as he left the bathroom, leaving Rick to his blinking. _Ridiculous_.

__________

 

Over the next couple of hours, Daryl managed to work a bit on his bike, clean his crossbow and visit Aaron and Eric. He refused to eat dinner, knowing Carol was baking something today and was expecting the whole family to show up. He brought the topic of Rick’s blinking up with Aaron, though, trying for uninterested but failing. It turned into a mix of incredulous eyerolls and exasperated sighs, and he was ready to get angry over the whole situation, because _really…_ He and Rick had already had a code, their whistles and other signals that they used while hunting and surviving. It worked for both of them, it was easy and, by this point, instinctual. So why the hell would Rick need another code?

But Aaron had said that it would probably help with whole sentences, and the man had had a point. So Daryl scoffed but thanked him anyway, nodding resolutely and finishing his coffee, before he stalked back to his house.

__________

 

As it turned out, it took him less than two hours to get the most important letters. He smiled knowingly when he entered the dining room and spotted Rick already seated at the table. Daryl walked around it, choosing to sit opposite his lover, making Rick frown in return when he noticed that Daryl took place in front of him, rather than next to him as he usually did. But then Daryl winked at him and Rick’s expression morphed into one of understanding. _Daryl wanted to practise the Morse code with him_. He smiled, looking down at his plate. There was something warm blooming in his chest and Rick tried hard not to dwell on it too much. He had a task, after all.

It took him almost five minutes to remember the code, but once he did, he decided to try it out immediately. He looked up, noticing that Daryl was staring back at him. He started blinking, just a simple message of “hi, Daryl”. The first try was unsuccessful, and all Rick got in return was a raised eyebrow from Daryl. He frowned, digging his fork into the meat he had on his plate and tried to concentrate harder. He started the message again, carefully blinking out the letters, a string of dots and dashes communicated with slow and rapid moves of his…

“Rick, are you alright?”

Rick whipped his head to the side, looking wide-eyed at Carol sitting next to him. She was giving him that motherly look full of concern and he frowned.  
“What?”   
“Are you alright? I thought you were having a seizure or something” she murmured, voice full of worry.   
“Yeah, you look like a constipated panda” Michonne chimed in, making Glenn snort into his glass. Rick shook his head slightly.   
“No, I’m fine. I’m okay. Fine” glancing down at his own hand holding the fork with a death-like grip he had to forcibly relax his fingers. Maybe he had been concentrating a bit too hard on this whole thing? He wanted to let Daryl know that they should wait with that whole practicing, but when he looked back at the hunter, Daryl’s head was down and his shoulders shook in a silent laughter.

__________

 

The next time Rick attempted to use the code on Daryl, they were finally alone in the house. And Rick was _horny_. It was a few days after that failed morse-code-dinner affair, and Rick had been practicing ever since. He thought he had gotten better at it and a few tries with Daryl seemed to confirm that.

As soon as Rick got Daryl where he wanted him, which turned out to be up against the wall, pressing into Daryl’s body, rubbing his insistent erection all over Daryl’s hip, Rick pulled away breaking the kiss they shared and leaned back. He looked Daryl deep in the eyes and blinked out a short message. It was quick and to the point: _let’s fuck_. He licked his lips for good measure, stepping back and giving Daryl some space to move.

The hunter, however, stood just where he was, staring at Rick with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Rick had a brief second to question himself and was already opening his mouth to say the message out loud, when Daryl nodded.   
“Alright” Daryl’s voice was raspy and his whole body was pulled as tight as the string on his crossbow. The same crossbow that Daryl now walked towards and picked up, throwing a “be right back” over his shoulder at a very confused Rick and disappearing through the door. And just like that, Rick was left blinking in the empty house, wondering what the hell had happened.

He didn’t really know how long he had been standing there, just that it had been long enough for his hard-on to vanish and for him to relocate to the bedroom. He was sitting on their bed, wrapped up in a blanket and trying not to think too hard on Daryl just leaving him all alone. With the bed cold next to him, Rick just felt so wrong…

“Got it” a gravelly voice announced from the door and Rick jerked his head up, looking at Daryl with wide eyes. The hunter stood there, holding something dead by its tail - _a squirrel_ , Rick’s mind supplied - and gazing at Rick with a frown.   
“What? _Why?_ ” Rick could only gape at him, taking in the bolt that was still stuck in the tiny animal, piercing it in the middle. Daryl shrugged, placing the crossbow on the ground and closing the door behind him as he stepped into the bedroom. Rick eyed him suspiciously, eyes flickering between Daryl’s face and the dead squirrel dangling from his fingers.   
“Daryl? Why did you bring me a squirrel?” Rick finally inquired, hoping it wasn’t some kind of an apocalypse mating ritual. He could stand squirrels for dinner, he could stand Daryl’s hands skinning them and getting their blood everywhere when they had been out on the road. But right now, he had a clean bed in a decent house, and he very much liked his lover gut and blood-free.

“Man, you asked me for it” Daryl’s frown only deepened, eyes slitted and suspicious.   
“I… _what?_ ” Rick breathed out, incredulous, and Daryl’s expression suddenly changed.   
“Alright. Hold on a sec… Exactly what did you _blink_ at me back there?” Daryl asked, stepping to the bed and sitting on its edge, looking at Rick. The leader licked his lips, recent memories of a very heated kiss coming back full force.   
“I said: _let’s fuck_ ” Rick clarified, watching as Daryl’s eyes widened minutely, before he doubled over in laughter.   
“No… you said _squirl_. I thought that was as close as you could get to _squirrel_ so I got you one” Daryl choked between barks of laughter, waving the dead animal in front of Rick’s face.

Rick growled at him, snatching the squirrel from his hand and tossing it behind his hunter, absentmindedly noting as it hit the closed door with a soft _thud_.   
“Come here” he gruffed, pulling Daryl down and kissing him, getting back into the previous mood rather quickly. He made a point of not blinking too much this time around.

__________

 

On the next morning, when Rick finally woke up, he was immediately aware of two things. His ass was sore as fuck, not that it was a bad thing, and someone was watching him. He stretched and yawned, turning around slowly, smiling when he spotted Daryl lying next to him.   
“Mornin’” the hunter whispered, staring at him. Rick smiled, letting himself sink back into the pillows, gazing lazily at his man. An idea came to him and his smile widened, as his eyes started to blink rapidly. _I love you_. Daryl was about to say something, mouth already open, but nothing came out. He just stared at Rick for a longer moment.

“Ya sorry sap” he grunted out, smirking, diving in and kissing Rick intently, licking into his mouth. Rick hummed to that, allowing Daryl to do whatever the hell he wanted, happy that the message had finally gone through successfully. “Yer fuckin’ impossible, ya know that?” Daryl whispered, once they broke apart. Rick could only grin, looking at him. “It’s not a love code, it’s serious business, Grimes” Daryl growled.   
“I know. So is this” Rick licked his lips, before he moved forward, rolling on top of his hunter and grinding into him, drawing forth a long moan.

They stopped their tries with the code on the very same day. Rick liked to think it was because they got it, even if the only successful attempt at communication had been that one time in their bedroom. Daryl knew it was because people started to get suspicious that Rick was seeing dead people again and that Daryl might had a secret drug stash somewhere in the house.


End file.
